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Although the column has a small introduction of what the articles will be about, Occultism & Mysticism is such a large subject, I thought it might be appropriate to give a little insight into who I am and why I use the combination of the two terms to describe this column.
Combine Mysticism and Occultism and you’ll have the term used by some Golden Dawn offshoots who dub it ‘Illuminism’. But, that term can lead to a link with the New World Order and will open a whole can of conspiracy theories. For now, I’ll stick to the fact that both are leading to ‘enlightenment’ although the approach is achieved in different ways.
Mysticism would for example roughly describe religions such as: aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, New Thought and Sufism as where Occultism would be applied to Magic(k), Spiritualism, and Astrology.
You will find that some branches of Mystic Religions cross over into Occultism and vice-versa.
As TheSpiritGuides are predominantly a Spiritual orientated site, I would like to explain that Golden Flower is my Initiate’s name. Over time when the column develops, I will elaborate more on the purpose and the reason for the use of an alternative name when engaging into the ‘Great Work’. You’ll find that a lot of terminology and practises used might be new for some of you and some you’ll find very familiar indeed.
The path that led to my initiation has been one with lots of cross roads and junctions. And some of those paths were like very large roundabouts. You take a direction, thinking you are going forward, only to come to the realisation that you have been going in a full circle and missed a little exit along the way. And when it comes to the esoteric, it is often easy to miss the little side paths that lead you into a forward direction. At times I had to go round and round a couple of times before I finally found the slip road to the motorway. I started out when I was very young and due to my youthful lack of patience it made me frequently overlook these exits. But at a very early stage I discovered the Esoteric ‘Sat Nav’. which is the application of the Mystical Qabalah in combination with analytical psychology.
My country of origin is the Netherlands and although my family is predominantly Dutch their roots of origin is multi-cultural and here is one of the main influences that started my ‘enlightening’ journey. It was here that I was made familiar with Jewish Mysticism, Anthroposophy, Islam and Christianity but none of those were helping me with coming to terms with ‘things that go bump in the night’. There are no Spiritualist churches in the Netherlands.
I grew up in a remote village where alternative ways were more than just frowned upon. It was the purchase of Occult books and a DIY approach to a host of practises that brought understanding. Together with my brothers and sisters we learned a lot..., the hard way.
At the age of twenty-one, I moved to the UK and here I came in contact with Spiritualism, Theosophy and Ceremonial Magic. My path started out Mystical but from the moment I opened my first book on the Occult, I found that the Wisdom of one became the Foundation of understanding to working with the other.
I got involved and worked with Spiritualism, Theosophy and Ceremonial Magic(k) and found value in all but I also found that what I valued in one was lacking in either one or the other or both alternatives. I am now an initiate of a small Society that embraces the best of all of them and I will share some of these with you on the Spirit Guides Site.
Each week, I either will take you along on my journey of discovery, discuss current issues that may pop its head in the news or provoke thought by setting of spiritualist philosophy and its practises against that of the magician or theosophist.
Where possible, I’ll answer any questions you may have for me, through this column.
Golden Flower
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